Something Else to Love
by Aeraqua
Summary: When Apollo goes for his usual search for a mortal to celebrate love for a few days, he finds that it's not just the usual. Not for a long time has he realized what love truly is. He finds that he will be humbled by the experience. ApolloxOC


Apollo always liked blue skies. He always loved when the sun beamed on the mortal world. After he had ridden through the sky with his red convertible, he would always know what the weather would be like. To other gods, particularly Zeus, it seemed like the stupidest thing for a god to do. But Apollo liked it. He also liked the fact that _he _was the one who could persuade the sun to show clear blue skies on certain days.

He came down gracefully onto Earth, changing into his sandy-haired mortal form, humming a lute song from the Medieval Ages. Apollo loved the old instruments—he thought they provided so much more resonance than the current electronic ones. And for Apollo's sensitive heart (as he was the god of the arts), nothing inspired him as much as how creative the mortals of the olden days were.

But Apollo pushed away his sensitive side now. He smiled, licked his lips hungrily. It was time for his favorite activity after Zeus' daily meeting. Mortal hunting. Oh no, not the way Artemis did it, shooting them. He loved to have a mortal love him. Oh yes, of course he could only marry another goddess. But, there was nothing like the short romantic lives of mortals to sate him.

He looked curiously around at where he landed. It seemed to be a college. Yes, girls were milling all around. He gazed everywhere—there were no special ones in sight. Sighing, he prepared to go—until a girl walked past him—and he saw her face.

For Apollo, the most important part of a mortal was by their eyes. He could delve deeper into their hearts than all the other gods, and he could see into the soul of the mortal. This girl had fine and short eyelashes, outlining her almost-black sparkling eyes. He could see that she had a lot of turmoil in her, and she was a sensitive and kind girl. But it was only that much he could tell from that brief look. He stopped leaving. He scrutinized the other girls all around. They, he could see, put on loads and loads of makeup—he supposed by mortal standards they were pretty. But, as he saw each eye, they all did not have the level of heartache or sensitivity the girl with the short eyelashes had. Yes, he had found his target.

As Apollo turned around, he realized why he hadn't seen that girl in the first place. From behind, he realized that she was a large girl, and by mortal standards, slightly overweight. If she had not walked by him, he wouldn't have gone after her. He strolled after her, attracting looks from many girls. He grinned, making a couple of girls giggled. Yes, the god of sun, healing, and the arts was a flashy being. Apollo quickened his pace, catching up to the girl. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

Apollo winced as a distinctly sour smell rushed over his nose. She had bad breath as well. Oh, he thought, it's too bad that the mortals with the most heart have the bad physical luck.

He realized she was still staring at him.

"Oh—yes. I lost my puppy on campus, could you help me find her?" Apollo judged people by how they reacted toward lesser beings. If he were Zeus, he would've zapped all the unnecessarily cruel people in the world.

Her face brightened. "Oh—sure! On campus, you say? Not in your dorm, hopefully?"

"Definitely not in my dorm."

"Okay, then, I see you're a freshman, she'll probably be in…"

He followed her.

About 10 minutes later, they arrived at the most wonderful smelling street-side stand Apollo had ever smelled. A jolly-looking man was petting the puppy Apollo had created after the girl said where the puppy would probably be.

"This is where all the pets go," the girl said, grinning. "Ben here can't help giving all his hot dogs away to the dogs and cats."

"Yes, I can't." Ben, the jolly man, said in a surprising quiet voice. "It's not made of those grinded bones real hot dogs are made out of. We have a special recipe back in our homeland." He spoke with a faint accent.

"Yes, Ben's hot dogs here are the best you'll ever taste!" The girl proclaimed proudly. "And speaking of your food, Ben, I've gotten 698 students to sign a petition that you should have your own restaurant!"

"You're too kind," Ben murmured. "I was lucky enough to escape to America."

"Oh no, don't go degrading yourself again…" And the girl launched into a speech about how wonderful Ben was—Apollo was amused.

"Oh, all right, I get the point." Ben said, smiling. "Why don't you go off with your boyfriend, instead of hanging around an old street vender?"

"Oh!" The girl said, blushing. "He's not my boyfriend, he just needed to find his puppy, who, by the way, is stealing a hot dog bun."

Apollo quickly intervened. "Thanks, Mr. Ben, for keeping my puppy safe."

Ben smiled gently. "Take your rascal away, Mr. Sunny. And you too, Sophie." Apollo was stunned. How did Ben know so much about his identity already?

The girl, Sophie, waved cheerily at Ben. "Next time I see you, I expect you to have your own restaurant!" Then she turned to Apollo. "Hey Mr. Sunny, we should probably go." Then she winked. "Ben's nicknames are very fitting."

As Apollo opened his mouth to reply, a gaggle of girls came over. "Ooh, who's your boyfriend, Sophie?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Seriously, guys, he's new."

"Ooh…" the girls said as they drifted away.

"They'll be spreading rumors around again," Sophie sighed, rolling her eyes at Apollo.

"Popular girls, huh? I don't like them much either."

Sophie stared curiously at Apollo. "You look like you could be popular yourself." Then she grinned. "You're someone who I can be friends with."

Apollo smiled inwardly. Then he remembered. "Oh, for thanks for helping me find my puppy—"

"No, it's fine, you don't have to give me anything!"

"No, I'd just like you to have Sunshine Candy."

"Sunshine candy?"

"It's—_something I invented—_the best candy in the world! The flavor is like warm sun bursting inside your mouth."

"Really?"

"Yeah, try one."

"Okay, sure, I guess…"

He handed a bright toffee over.

She opened the bright yellow wrapper, and popped the round warm yellow candy into her mouth.

"Oh! This is so good! Even better than ice cream! You're really nice, you know."

Apollo simply shrugged, shaking his head. "You're nicer." _I partially gave you that because it cures your bad breath for a century. _

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"No, not just for the candy, though. I know you'll be a great friend." And she really smiled for the first time.

**First PJ fanfic! How do you like it? R&R please! :D**

**BTW, this is NOT a one-shot. It will continue!**

**Please review? No flames please!  
**


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